Press for forming hollow articles.



R. L. WILLIAMS. mass FOR FORMING HOLLOW ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 30, 1908.

927,622. Patented July 13, 1909.

ROBERT LUOIUS WILLIAMS, OF MCDADE, TEXAS.

PRESS FOR FORMING HOLLOW ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909.

Application filed April 30, 1908. Serial No. 430,129.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Ronnn'r L. humans, a citizen of the United States, residing at McD-ade, in the county of Bastrop and bit-ate of Texas, have invented a new and useful Press for Forming Hollow Articles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to presses for forming hollow bodies as, for instance, furnace pots and the like, and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of its parts as hereinafter shown and described.

The objectof the invention is to provide a press of the character indicated which consists primarily of a frame upon which is supported a mold. A plunger is arranged to reciprocate with relation to the mold as is also a bottom which normally closes the lower end of the mold. The parts are so arranged that the plunger has a greater movement than the bottom. And, consequently, when the plunger is moving toward the bottom it approaches within close proximity of the same at the end of the stroke but when moving away from the bottom it is spaced at a greater distance from the bottom at the upper end of its stroke consequently suilicient space is provided for the removal of the article from the bottom. The plunger is provided at its upper end with a laterally extending flange adapted to come in contact with the top of the mold for forming the upper edge of the article and the bottom may be provided with a series of cooperating pins which are adapted to form perforations in the bottom of the article being formed.

in the accompanying drawing, the figure is a side elevation of the press showing part thereof in section.

The press consists of the frame 1 which supports the table 2. The guides 33 are vertically arranged along the upright portions of the said frame 1 and the frame a is arranged to move vertically between the said guides 3. The vertical portions of the frame t pass through the perforations or openings 5 provided in the table 2 so that the opposite ends of frame 4t lie upon the opposite sides of the said table :2.

The table 2 is provided at an intermediate point with a recess 6, preferably, conical in shape. The mold 7 is located upon the top of the table 2 and surrounds the said recess (3. The plate 8 may be placed upon the bottom 10. The pins 9 are supported by the plate 8 and pass vertically through perforations provided in the plate 8. The bottom 10 lits snugly within the recess 6. The bottom 10 is provided upon its under side with a tubular sleeve 11 which passes through the table The stem 12 is mounted at the lower end of the frame at and its upper end telescopically engages the lower portion of the sleeve 11. The rack bar 123 is supported upon the upper portion of the frame 4. The plunger head it is attached to the lower end of said bar 13. Said head 1 1 is pro vided at its upper end with a laterally projecting flange 15 which is adapted to come in contact with the upper edge of the mold 7 when the article on the mold has been completed. The lower end of the head 1 L is also adapted to come in contact with the upper ends of the pins 9 when the article formed in the mold is completed. The said head lel is provided in the vicinity of its upper end with the recesses 16 which afford sufficient space for the material of which the article is formed to enter so that the said article is provided at its upper edge with suitable lugs. The shaft 17 is ournaled for rotation upon the upper portion of the frame 1 and is provided with a gear wheel 18 which meshes with the rack 13.

Any suitable means may be provided for rotating the shaft 17. In the accompanying drawing such a means is indicated by a hand wheel 19, although a belt pulley may be substituted for said hand wheel if desired. Thus it will be seen that as the shaft 17 is rotated the rack bar 18 moves vertically and the plunger l-il moves correspondingly. The frame 4. moves with the 1ii(i bar 13 but as the engagement between the sleeve 11 and the stem 12 is telescopic there is some lost movement between the frame t and the stem 12 mounted thereon and of the mold bottom 10. Thus it is that while the said mold bottom and the plunger 1 L have reciprocatory movement the movement of the plunger head 14 is greater than that of the mold bottom 10 and when the plunger head 14L arrives at the lower end of its stroke it is in closer proximity to the mold bottom 10 than when it is at the upper end of its stroke.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Presuming that the plunger head 1% and the mold bottom 10 are in the elevated positions as indicated by the dotted lines in the figure of the drawing, a ball of clay is placed upon the mold bottom 10 or the plates located thereon. The shaft 17 is then ro tated and the plunger .14 is moved down toward the mold 7 and at the same time the mold bottom 10 descends within the mold and carries the ball of clay with it. During this movement, which is greater in extent on the part of the plunger head 13 than the mold bottom 10, the said mold bottom 10 is seated in the recess 6 and the plunger head ll continued downwardly a short distance until said plunger reaches the end of its stroke. lVhen this occurs the area betw en the said plunger head 14 and the mold bottom 10 and the sides of the mold 7 have been reduced to such an extent as to press the clay firmly against the inner sides of the mold and around the pins 9 and into the recesses 16 at the upper side portion of the said plunger head, thus the hollow article is formed. The shaft 17 is then rotated in the opposite direction and the plunger head 1% and the mold bottom 10 are brought back to the positions indicated by the dotted lines in the figure of the drawing. hen the mold bottom 10 is in its uppermost position the article which has previously been formed is lifted therefrom and the said article will be provided in its bottom with perforations formed by the pins 9 and at its upper edge with lugs formed by the recesses 16 in the plunger head 1st. Thus it will be seen that a press is provided upon which is mounted a frame for reciprocatory movement and a plunger which moves positively with the said frame. A mold bottom is operatively connected with the frame but does not move positivelywith the same until the said frame arrives at certain points in its movement when the said mold bottom moves posi tively therewith.

l l l When it is desired to form a hollow pot without perforation in its bottom the plate 8 is dispensed with but the operation as above described is the same.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A press comprising a supporting frame having guides, a stationary table carried by the frame and provided with a surface recess, a mold rigidly secured to the table and surrounding the recess therein, a reciprocating frame mounted for vertical movement in the guides of the supporting frame, means for reciprocating the vertically movable frame, a plunger carried by the reciprocatin g frame, and provided with spaced. laterally extending ears, a rod depending from and detachably secured to said ears and provided with a hollow plunger head arranged to enter the mold, a mold bottom normally seated in the recess in the table, a plate secured to the upper surface of the mold bottom and provided with a plurality of spaced perforating pins projecting within the mold, a sleeve depending from the mold bottom and having its upper end bearing against said plate, a stem carried by the reciprocating frame and operating within said sleeve, the plunger head being provided with a flange arranged to bear against the upper edge of the mold when said head is moved to operative position within the mold.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT LUCIUS VILLIAMS. lVitnesses H. W. FREEMAN,

J. W. SMITH. 

